The paperwork I requested from the courts mentions the plea agreement, but does not list anywhere that it is now a Misdemeanor 1. The prosecutor, my public defender and I agreed to the terms, the judge accepted and gave me "time served" and a reduced fine as long as I completed 12 hrs of class and 6 months probation. Both completed and court was supplied proof. Any advice on how to get this cleared up would be great. Thank you.
Unfortunately, the criminal justice system is not perfect and clerical errors are not that uncommon. Make a trip down to the PD's office and attempt to speak to your original PD about the discrepancy. They should be able to provide you with more information and even assist in correcting the record. It's also possible they have just not updated your records, depending on how long ago you accepted the plea. Good luck.
Did the plea agreement reduce it straight away to a misdemeanor, or did you have to successfully complete probation first? If the plea was straight to a misdemeanor, you just need a disposition report and it should show it as a misdemeanor. If you needed to complete the courses first the court will need to sign off on it to have it reduced. You can have your lawyer turn in a motion to have it reduced if the court doesn't do it automatically. Delay is common, so if the courses have only been done for a short time it could take a month or more for the court to rule on it.
A class 6 undesignated felony can be reduced to a misdemeanor in certain circumstances. Usually a defendant is required to complete probation successfully (i.e. no violations) pay all fines, attend all classes etc... before the felony can be designated a misdemeanor. My guess is that this is the circumstance in your case. However, check your plea agreement, if the agreement has language that specifically states the felony will be plead to as a misdemeanor without any preconditions then you can have the court correct their error. In my experience, I believe you may have misunderstood the circumstances under which your charge will be designated a misdemeanor, and you will have to complete all the terms of your sentence before asking the court to designate your charge as a misdemeanor. Please remember that in some circumstances you have to file a motion and request that the felony be reduced to a misdemeanor before the court records will reflect such a change. As soon as you get the opportunity file the appropriate motion and request that the court reduce your felony to a misdemeanor.
